I stand acquitted before Allah that I should take anyone of you as an intimate friend, for Allah has taken me as an intimate friend just as he took Abraham as an intimate friend

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) talked about his status in the sight of Allah Almighty and that it reached the highest level of love as reached by Abraham (peace be upon him). That is why he denied that he should have an intimate friend other than Allah, for his heart was full of love and exaltation for Allah and knowledge about Him; so, it does not have room for anyone else. Had he taken an intimate friend from among the people, he would have been Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Then, he warned against exceeding the permissible bounds regarding love, as done by the Jews and the Christians regarding the graves of their prophets and righteous people, so much that they turned them into polytheistic gods to be worshiped apart from Allah and built places of worship over those graves. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Ummah from doing what they did.

Benefits

• This points out the merit of Abu Bakr as-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him). He was the best among the Companions and the most entitled to succeed the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) after his death.
• Building places of worship over graves is one of the evil acts done by previous nations.
• It is prohibited to take graves as places of worship, with prayer being offered therein or towards them, or to construct places of worship or domes over them, lest this should lead to polytheism.
• It warns against going to extremes in revering the righteous people for this is conducive to polytheism.
• It demonstrates the seriousness of what the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned of, as he stressed it five days before his death.